Heart/Mountain
by DeadManSeven
Summary: A short interlude before Cloud and his party climb Gaea's Cliff on their path to Sephiroth


The following characters, places and situations portrayed are the property of   
Squaresoft. I don't own them. I am using them in no way to gain any profit.  
  
  
  
*Heart/Mountain - Derek Zischke*  
  
  
  
'Cloud...are you _sure_ we're supposed to be going this way?' Tifa asked, kicking   
some snow off her boots. 'It's getting dark, and we haven't got anything to camp   
with...' She pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders.  
  
'We're going to keep walking north,' Cloud replied, his voice devoid of thought or   
emotion.  
  
'But...' Tifa went to say, when she was held back by Cid's hand.  
  
'No sense in bothering him,' the old pilot said quietly. 'Just let him be.' After rubbing   
his gloved hands together, Cid added, 'Kid's got a lot on his mind.'  
  
Tifa hung back for a second, watching Cloud as he walked ahead through the forest.   
His feet dragged. His shoulders hung. His head was cast down. He was thinking   
about her again...and Tifa really couldn't blame him. They had all taken it hard, but   
Cloud had taken it the hardest. Maybe because he felt it was his fault, because they   
all looked up to him as their leader. Maybe it was because he thought he could have   
stopped Sephiroth. Maybe it was just one more reason to hate Sephiroth. Or   
maybe...maybe he...  
  
The distant howl of a Bandersnatch made Tifa eager to catch up to Cloud and Cid.  
  
  
  
Cid eyed the snow wolves as they made their way over a hill on the fields of snow.   
His hands gripped instinctively around his scimitar. He counted in his mind how   
many there were as they began to edge closer to the party...six. A large pack.  
  
Damn.  
  
Cid yelled at the top of his lungs, giving out some of the anger that had been   
brewing ever since they had made their way down from the village in the snow,   
charging the Bandersnatches as he did so. The first one suffered a scimitar blade to   
the head, and the second in its side as Cid thrust his weapon around. He felt the hair   
prick up on the back of his neck, and as the sound of a lightning bolt rang in his   
ears, he knew that Tifa had just saved him from being mauled.  
  
'Fire!' he yelled to her as he swung his scimitar in an arc, wounding two more   
wolves. 'Fire'll hurt 'em more!'  
  
'Right!' Tifa called back.  
  
Cid glared back at the Bandersnatches. There was one that was staying to fight,   
staggering to its feet. The other that had just been cut, and wounded deeper, was   
limping back into the forest. Quickly counting in his head, he figured that there   
was...  
  
'Cloud!' Tifa screamed.  
  
Cid's head whipped around to see Cloud, standing still, his large sword drawn, with   
the final healthy wolf running towards him. Before the wolf reached him, Cid could   
see Cloud in his mind...his battle stance was weak...his grip on his weapon was   
loose...and his minds eye saw the Bandersnatch jump...  
  
...And Cloud let down his blade.  
  
'Look out!' Cid yelled, believing his was too late.  
  
The Bandersnatch burst into flames, and fell to the ground at Cloud's feet. Its   
remaining companion yelped, unused to the fire, and ran off. Tifa had saved the   
young man.  
  
Just.  
  
'Damn, kid, did you _want_ to die or something?' Cid remarked to Cloud as he   
walked past him, with more than a hint of an edge to his voice.  
  
Cloud said nothing, sheathed his blade, and kept walking north.  
  
  
  
_Cold...it's cold...  
  
My feet are numb...  
  
My eyes are sore...  
  
I can't see...  
  
I don't know where I'm going...  
  
Yes I do...I have to go north.  
  
He's there...I can feel it...  
  
I can't stop...not for anyone...  
  
Not for anything...  
  
Even for this cold..._  
  
  
  
Tifa woke in the darkness. She instantly felt the unease of not knowing where she   
was that had followed her ever since leaving Midgar, and quickly settled when she   
realised that she was in the shack of the old mountaineer that had dragged them in   
from the cold. A fire was burning in the other room, as she could see the shadows   
from the doorframes dancing on the floor. And if the fire was burning...  
  
'Someone would have to be awake,' Tifa thought as she climbed out of the bed she   
had woken from. Habit forced her to check what she was wearing, to discover she   
still had on the clothes that she had walked across the snowfield in, being too tired   
to do anything but sleep. The only things missing were her shoes and the heavy coat   
she had.  
  
Tifa walked to the doorway, to see Cloud staring at the fire with the same vacant   
expression he was wearing when they had fought the Bandersnatches. She walked   
into the room and sat down next to him. Cloud didn't respond. Tifa reached out her   
hand to place on his arm. He shrugged it off and stared deeper into the flames. The   
pair sat there for a few long moments.  
  
'Cloud...it won't help if you don't talk to anyone,' Tifa said at last.  
  
'She didn't deserve to die,' was all he said.  
  
'Cloud...there was nothing you could have done...'  
  
'Yes, there was!' he snapped at her, showing the first emotion Tifa had seen him use   
in days. 'I could have left her in Midgar...she would never had know me...'  
  
Cloud's gaze dropped to the wooden floor.  
  
'I...killed her.'  
  
'Cloud...no. You didn't. And you can't think like this. Not when Sephiroth has to be   
stopped.' Cloud still looked at the floor. He breathed in deep, and his body   
shuddered against Tifa.  
  
'We've all lost something,' she added, knowing Cloud wasn't ready to talk back yet.   
'That's what Avalanche was about, remember? Except now...now it's for _all_ of the   
planet. We've all lost something. Sephiroth took my father from me, and I loved him   
just as much as-'  
  
Tifa abruptly stopped as she realised what she had almost said. Her heart beat oddly   
for a few seconds, until she realised that Cloud probably hadn't heard her. His head   
now rested in his hands. He was now crying.  
  
Tifa put her arm around Cloud, comforting him. His body shook, and he leant up   
against her. Tifa held him close, willing to be the friend that supported Cloud when   
he would need it the most. She could feel some of Cloud's tears dripping onto her   
leg, and she felt the absurd desire to just lift up Cloud's head...staring into his deep   
eyes...and kiss him...  
  
'Tifa...?' Cloud finally asked, his voice low and ragged from his tears.  
  
'Yes?' she whispered back.  
  
'Is it going to get better?'  
  
'Yes...but you have to want it to.'  
  
Tifa now pulled Cloud to his feet, leading him to the room where everyone else lay   
sleeping. She led him to the bed, and lay him down, and after a moment of   
consideration, climbed in beside him. Tifa felt Cloud's hands encircle her, although   
there was nothing romantic in his embrace. Still, Tifa leaned close to him, and   
brushed the hair away from Cloud's face as he was slipping into sleep, and placed   
her lips to his.  
  
'Get better soon,' she whispered. 'For all of us.  
  
'For me the most.'  
  
And although it may have been her imagination, Tifa thought that she felt Cloud's   
arms hold her tighter before she fell asleep.  
  
  
  
Derek Zischke  
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lox18/Index.htm  
deadmanseven@optushome.com.au  
Zischke In The Jar Productions, 2000-10-01 (c)  
  
  
  
'Do you suffer from long-term memory loss? I can't remember...'  
-Chumbawhamba  



End file.
